Calendar Love : April - Tonight Is April Fool's
by Azurite
Summary: It's Ranma and Akane's first date! Somehow, it goes flawlessly, with no interruptions from insane or desperate fiancees, meddling fathers... well, you get the idea. That is, until Ranma opens his mouth...


Calendar Love: A Ranma ½ Fanfiction  
April :: Tonight Is April Fools  
Konya wa Eipuriru Fuuru   
Series  
PG  
WAFF  
By: Azurite  
azurite_moon@yahoo.com  
http://www.geocities.com/azurite_moon  
*emphasis*  
_more emphasis_  
"spoken"  
'thoughts'  
^ lyrics ^  
[translation]  
-------------------------------------------------------  
I'm not doing this series in order, and  
all parts of this fic can be read as stand-alone  
fics. If you are familiar with Joseph Palmer's  
"Seasons" or "Colors", then this is the same.   
It's not necessary to read any of the  
parts of this series in order to understand  
it. Like I said above, this can be read as  
a standalone fic... and besides, it's the  
first part of CL that I'm writing anyway.   
Ranma ½ , its respective situations, characters,  
and so forth belong to a lot of other  
companies... not me. This is a non-profit  
work of fiction, by fans, for fans, and the  
only part of it that's mine is the plot.   
Email me for distribution.  
Post Vol. 38 (Manga)  
-------------------------------------------------------  
Akane ran down the street, heedless of the cold wind that bit at her, of the  
loud noise she was making with the clapping of her pumps on the  
dark asphalt, and her muffled sobs. Dogs began barking, lights went on,   
and Akane couldn't hear or see any of it. There was nothing in her  
world now but darkness.   
"I hate him! I hate him!"  
She cried continually, but to herself. Despite the fact that she didn't  
even sense the world around her as anything but eternal black,   
she was smart enough to stay quiet, for her own sake. Maybe a  
part of her really didn't want him to come after her. Why would he?  
It had started out so wonderfully too. After so long, Ranma had  
finally asked Akane out. The both of them had *tried,* honestly  
_tried_ to keep the date a secret, but the amount Nabiki wanted  
to charge them for overhearing Ranma's offer to Akane was  
outrageous. The two had had to speed downstairs to prevent  
their fathers from calling a priest and starting a wedding up again.   
"Listen, Pop, Mr. Tendo, it was bad enough you guys  
arranged a marriage by force. It was a disaster because it was so last  
minute, and wasn't planned enough. At least give Akane and  
I a chance to get to know each other better!" Ranma had  
protested. His argument was unsuccessful.  
"Boy, you've been around Akane for well near a year  
and a half! If you don't know her by now, then maybe we should  
just ship you to some uninhabited island for a year. Will you   
'know each other' by then?" Genma Saotome countered.  
Ranma didn't have a response to that.   
"Dad, please. For me?" Akane begged her father, her  
brown eyes watering in a most puppyish manner.  
"I never was able to resist that look... especially  
not when Kimiko smiled at me that way..." Soun Tendo reminisced  
of his wife, and Genma looked on in shock as his friend's  
will to marry his daughter crumbled like so much dust. Oh well,  
he supposed, turning back to his game of Shogi, there would  
always be another time. And while Tendo wasn't looking...  
Genma sneaked a wooden piece away from the board,   
and shifted his around.   
Settled with this turn of events, Ranma and Akane retreated  
upstairs. They settled on a date and time, and everything else  
was left to fate.   
  
As Akane had prepared for that evening, she hummed to herself.   
For the auspicious occasion, she had splurged at the mall and bought  
herself a new yellow dress. Akane thought Ranma would like it,   
as when she wore her other yellow clothes, he seemed to smile   
a lot more.   
'This will be a day to write about in my diary.' Akane smiled as  
she placed tiny red rose earrings in her ear. A tiny red rose adorned   
the dress's V-neckline at its point, and a darker yellow ribbon, embroidered  
with the outline of velveteen red roses was sewn to the hem.   
Akane had three or four diaries, and only one of them was   
real. With her family and friends, she really couldn't chance one   
of them -especially Nabiki- reading its contents. So she prepared   
several other diaries, put them in places where a diary might normally  
be kept, and allowed them to be read by whomever stumbled  
on them. However, her real diary was kept in a secret corner of her  
closet, behind a loose board. No one could tell it was there, and best  
of all, it had a special lock that Akane had had made especially for her.   
She wore it around her neck at all times, and even changed the cord  
to a chain when she wanted to look nice - like now.   
'Yes... April 1st: My first *real* date with Ranma...' Akane  
smiled happily to herself and continued to get ready.   
  
"I was such a fool... I fell for it completely..." Akane sobbed,  
walking now. She didn't care where she ended up- the last place  
she wanted to be was home; the last person she wanted to see was Ranma.   
The night came back like an unwanted nightmare... the worst parts  
being highlighted by the spotlights of her mind.   
  
'Oh my...' Akane thought to herself as she was awed by the splendor  
of it all. Ranma was dressed formally; he had even forgone his normal Chinese  
shirt for a dress shirt. The only thing that said "Ranma" about his whole ensemble were his martial artist's slippers. He would wear those to his wedding, Akane thought, smiling.   
However, the word wedding only brought back bad memories. Akane shook  
her head and resolved to pay attention to Ranma- this was their first date together... and she was determined to make it PERFECT.   
Dinner had passed without a flaw; how Ranma had afforded exquisite  
restaurant was beyond her. Perhaps he had borrowed money from Nabiki?  
No, he couldn't have. He was already in debt to her, and her interest rates were so outrageous that only Kuno could have afforded them. Perhaps he had   
gotten the money from either of their fathers? No, where would THEY have  
gotten the money from? Did... he... Akane wondered, letting her eyes dance  
over the fine crystal and rich food, save all this up for me?   
They went for a relaxing stroll near the lake; something like this  
was normally a hazard for Ranma, and on this particular night, neither wanted  
it to be ruined by his curse being activated. So, despite the fact that it went against gentlemanly etiquette, Akane walked on the side closest to the water.   
Midway through their hand-in-hand walk, which was pleasantly silent  
and rather romantic, Ranma stopped. To Akane's complete and utter surprise,  
he began to sing softly, to a melody that drifted out of nowhere.   
  
^ akane-iro no tokimeki ^  
^ omae no hoho o someru tasogare ^  
^ hoshizora ni kawaru made ni ^  
^ omoi o uchi-akeru no sa ^  
[The twilight colors your cheeks]  
[A pulsing scarlet color]  
[Before they replace the starry sky,]  
[I will open up my heart to you]  
  
Akane blushed, as if on cue to his words. He led her to a bench,   
lit white by the full moonlight, and kept right on singing in a soft voice.   
'He... he can sing!'   
His voice was just as beautiful as his eyes, Akane thought,  
and she smiled, her cheeks colored a faint hue of red.  
  
^ yuuki o dasu yo ^   
^ kotoba ni suru yo ^  
^ otoko kara ii-dasu no ga ^  
^ yasashisa to shinjite-iru ^  
^ ore da ze ^  
[I'll summon up my courage!]  
[Words will do more than enough!]  
[A man shouldn't broach the matter,]  
[I believe in tenderness!]  
  
Courage? The matter? What was he...? Akane only listened.   
Ranma took a deep breath and kept right on singing. This was it...  
the moment of truth...   
  
^ aishiteiru no sa ^  
^ hajimete atta ano hi kara ^  
^ omae dake o ^  
[I love you!]  
[Since the day we first met,]  
[I've loved only you...]  
  
"Ranma..." Akane whispered, tears coming unheeded to her eyes  
as as she placed a hand over her mouth. She tried to keep her  
expression placed, and was only succeeding halfway. There was  
no way he could possibly MEAN it...  
Ranma had written more, simply for the purpose of settling  
back into comfortable territory with her: fighting and insulting  
each other had become so routine with each other, that, despite  
the fact they hated it when the other did it, it they didn't,  
it felt strange. And for someone like Ranma, who never knew  
just how to voice his feelings, if there was tension between them,  
then he'd snap at any second, and pronounce his love for her...  
and be humiliated.   
Did she return the feelings? God, he wanted to know, but...  
tension! fear! hurt! pain! suffering! All of the things he would feel  
if he were rejected, after all this!  
  
^ tomadoi wo misete ^  
^ utsumuku omae ^  
^ konya wa EIPURIRU FUURU ^  
^ baka da na USO da yo ^  
[You look bewildered]  
[Hang your head in shame]  
[Tonight is April Fool's]  
[Fool! It's a lie!]  
  
The minute the words were out of his mouth, he regretted saying  
them. The expression of shock and bewilderment quickly turned to  
sadness, and then something akin to rage. It looked as if she was  
trying to hold back, for she bit her lip and sat still, her eyes   
pinched shut.   
  
'I will not leave. It's been perfect so far; it can't all  
be a joke! Besides, I suggested the date, and he had asked me   
before he planned it... so he... he's going to... it's NOT a lie!  
It can't be!!' Akane tried to convince herself. But she couldn't  
bring herself to look in his eyes and find out whether she  
was being lied to or not.   
  
^ KENKA bakari shitete mo ^  
^ hontou no kimochi kanjite-ita yo ^  
^ sugu ni okoru sono KUSE mo ^  
^ kawaiiku omoeru you ni ^  
[Though we always fight,]  
[These are my real feelings!]  
[Though you get angry instantly,]  
[I still think you're cute]  
  
'Kawaii? Me?' Akane was reeling. Every verse was written  
with love, and seemed to be aimed just for her. He sang it so  
beautifully, so softly, and it was so romantic. Akane was  
about to get lost in the moment again when she remembered the  
words... 'hontou no kimochi kanjite-ita yo'... What were  
his true feelings? That he loved her, or that all his "feelings"  
for her were a lie? Perhaps the next verse would be a declaration  
of how uncute and unsexy she was, Akane thought. If it was, then...  
well, she'd just get up and leave!!  
  
^ mune ni kakushita sunao-na omoi ^  
^ bukiyou de dasenai nara ^  
^ mitsume-au dake de ^  
^ kokoro tsutawaru... ^  
[Out of my awkwardness, I don't show]  
[These gentle feelings hidden in my heart]  
[Yet when we just look at each other,]  
[My feelings are sent...]  
  
Akane let her hand slide away from her mouth, so her face  
was completely revealed to Ranma. Tears slipped down her cheeks,  
and they wouldn't stop falling if for the end of the world.   
He really meant it, didn't he?  
  
^ aishiteiru no sa ^  
^ hoka no dare ni mo watasenai ^  
^ omae dake wa ^  
[I love you!]  
[I could not love anyone else,]  
[there is only you]  
  
Only... me? So, he wasn't really interested in Shampoo,  
with her body and fantastic cooking abilities? Or Ukyo, with  
her compassion and strength, and her longtime friendship  
with him? Or Kodachi... wait... no, HE'D have to be   
insane to love Kodachi, Akane amended. She brought to her  
lips a gentle smile, which grew slowly as the verses went on.   
  
^ hanikanda egao ^  
^ mabushiku utsuru ^  
^ konya wa EIPURIRU FUURU ^  
^ MAJI no toru na yo ^  
[Your bashful, smiling face]  
[reflects radiantly]  
[Tonight is April Fool's]  
[Take the truth!]  
  
'Is what he SAID the truth... or,' Akane was overcome  
with apprehension, and a strange feeling in her stomach, 'What  
he WILL say?' Her smile vanished quickly in anticipation.   
Tension was heavy in the air, and Ranma seemed to be under pressure.   
  
^ kawaiiku mo nee ^  
^ iroke mo nee ja ^  
^ dare ni mo aite sarenai ^  
[You're uncute]  
[And unsexy, too]  
[No one would be your lover]  
  
Akane felt her heart catch in her throat. So. This was what  
he really felt, then? Gone were her wonderings of how he could  
have afforded and planned such a romantic date in so short  
a time, gone were the ideas that maybe Ranma cared. His hand  
was no longer on her arm; she was free to go. She kept crying,  
because it hurt, and Akane really didn't know why.   
All she knew was she felt horrible, and that this kind  
of rejection was the worst kind of pain, next to death itself.   
She wanted to go, get out of here before the pain worsened   
and Ranma only rubbed it in her face more that she had more  
faults that the California coastline.   
It felt like defeat. He really did hate her, she thought.   
He was nice because he had to be, for honor's sake, and so  
his father and him would have a place to stay. They would freeload,  
take advantage of the family, and dishonor them, and then move  
on their way.   
Worst of all though, Akane thought, fighting back the rage of  
emotions as Ranma's soft voice droned on, was that he was right.   
She WAS uncute, unsexy, and despite the number of admirers she  
had, whenever she actually THOUGHT about being with them, they  
never wanted her. Maybe her standards were too high... or maybe  
everyone at Furinkan really WAS a pervert. But now, it didn't matter.   
The one person Akane had WANTED to have her heart had taken it...  
and smashed it with his foot.   
  
^ komatteru kao ga ^  
^ ki ni natte dake ^  
^ konya EIPURIRU FUURU ^  
^ baka da na USO da yo ^  
[Your face is troubled...]  
[You worry me]  
[Tonight is April Fool's]  
[Fool! It's a lie!]  
  
By the second line of his last verse, Akane couldn't  
take it anymore. Sobbing in near hysterics, she ran from  
him, not hearing the last line he whispered as his face  
fell at her departure.   
A lone tear fell from his face also, as he fingered  
a small box in his hand. He whispered the very last line  
so quietly, only a bird would have been able to hear it...  
  
^ sukoshi HONTO sa... ^  
[But it's a little bit true...]  
  
A beautiful white-gold ring glimmered in the box  
as he opened it. He looked at it with regret, and back to  
the moonlit walkway which Akane had run down. There  
was only once choice. Putting the box away, he ran after her.   
-----------------------------------------------------------------  
  
"Baka no... Ranma..." Akane sobbed, finally giving up  
and collapsing on a bench on the opposite side of the park.   
Would he even come after her??? Did it matter?  
  
'Aishiteru...'   
Her heart had skipped several beats after he said that,  
and the rushing of her blood nearly prevented her from hearing  
the rest. Looking back at those verses, Akane wished she could  
have gone deaf from that moment on, just so she would have been spared  
the pain of being called a fool... and rightfully so.   
  
"AKANE!!! WHERE ARE YOU!?" Ranma called. Wait! There she was,   
sitting on a bench...   
He ran towards her.   
'I won't even *look* at him!' Akane resolved. Why should he  
get any of her attention? After breaking her heart into millions  
of pieces -without even knowing why, no less- he deserved nothing  
more than the dirt off her shoes.  
"Akane, I..." Ranma managed, panting, as he was out of breath.   
Akane's reply was only muffled sobs and an angry, sharp breath.   
"I meant what I said," Ranma finally spoke, and took her   
hands in his, as he kneeled in front of her.   
"What," Akane asked, tears streaming down her red face,  
a most unbecoming frown trembling on her lips. "That you hated  
me, that you thought I was uncute, unsexy and would never get  
married? Would die a spinster!? Kami, Ranma, you could have  
come up with a nicer way to say it!!" Akane whispered, her voice  
as shaky as her hands. She tried to wrench them out of his grasp,  
but he wouldn't let her; his grip was strong and firm.   
"Listen to me, Akane. I... When I'm around you, my brain  
kinda goes haywire, and it's really hard to think straight. You  
do that to me, you know. No one else does."  
"So I make you go insane? Wonderful. So go marry Kodachi,  
and maybe you'll be sane again."  
"DAMMIT, will you listen? You always assume, and it makes  
everyone look stupid!" Ranma near-growled.   
Akane quieted, but desperately tried not to meet his hard,  
yet wavering as he looked at her expression, gaze.   
"I love you. I will always love you, and I need you more than  
I need air. Akane," Ranma said softly, bringing out the box once  
more, "Will you marry me?"  
  
Her eyes suddenly dried at these words. Her breath was caught in  
her throat, and as she tried to exhale, it felt unusually cold  
and raspy. Her cheeks were stained red; her eyes hurt from all the  
crying. But for some reason, a weight that had been placed on  
her, whether mentally or spiritually, was lifted. She felt light now,  
and suddenly, all her rage and sadness were gone with the breeze.   
"Tell me," Akane whispered, wiping her tears with the one   
hand she had gotten free, "That this isn't a joke." Akane faced him  
abruptly, and met his gaze full on.   
"And don't tell me because I'm asking you to. If you're serious,  
please... just... don't let this be a lie."  
Silence reigned throughout the park for a minute; not even the crickets  
chriped.   
And when that minute was up, to her utter amazement, Ranma laughed.  
He looked at her seriously after his chortling ceased, and grabbed both  
her hands again.   
"After what we've been through... after all of the rivals, the  
fiancees, the adventures... why would I joke about this? Why would I  
go out of my way to buy you the engagement ring you deserve? Why..."  
Ranma chuckled again, "Would I set myself up for rejection if it was  
a joke?"  
"Re-Rejection?"   
"Yeah. I guess... I guess you really don't like me the way I  
had... the way I'd hoped." Ranma managed, him being the one this time  
to turn away. He still held her hands, but not as tightly.   
"B-But... Ranma, I..." Akane brushed his cheek with her hand.   
He turned to her, his face coloring.   
"I do love you. And I was just too stubborn to say it."  
"A fool?" Ranma asked, smiling faintly.   
"Why do fools fall in love?" Akane countered, leaning closer to  
him. The tension that was normally between them in such romantic  
moments was dispersed; it was just them now. Themselves, and the truth.   
"Because." They both whispered before their lips met in a heated  
kiss.   
  
That night, when Ranma and Akane came home, each wore a blissful  
smile on their face. His arm was around Akane's shoulders, and she  
held him around the waist. They looked like the picture-perfect couple.   
"Uhm... this is a JOKE, right?" Nabiki asked, looking them up  
and down.   
The clock slowly ticked in the background. Only a minute and  
a half later, it chimed the hour of midnight.  
"Hope you had a Happy April Fool's." Ranma said, turning to  
Akane.   
"Oh, yes, I did. A wonderful one... fool." Akane smiled in time  
with Ranma, and placed her hand on his cheek, and kissed him fully,  
in front of the audience consisting of Kasumi in the kitchen, Nabiki  
on the floor, and Soun and Genma on the patio.   
Nabiki suddenly noticed the glistening ring on Akane's left  
hand, ring finger, and started to choke on her cracker.   
Kasumi remarked benignly, "Oh my," while Soun and Genma  
did a happy dance.   
The world went right on turning, as Akane and Ranma kissed.   
-------------------------------------------------------------------------  
azurite_moon@yahoo.com  
http://www.geocities.com/azurite_moon  
  
  
  
  
  
  



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